Ferdinand e



(No Model.) I

P. E. FORSTER.

SHALLOW WATER INDICATOR.

No. 326,028. PatentedSept. 8, 1885.

N. PETERS mvuMnph-r. Walhillgton, nc.

U ITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

FERDINAND E. FORSTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHALLOW-WATER INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 326,028, dated September 8, I885.

' Application liled July 9, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, FERDINAND E. FORSTER, of the city and'county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shallow-Water Indicators or Sounding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is intended for use on boats and vessels when near land, or when the presence of shallow water is suspected, to indicate the fact. It operates by a device moving through the water at any desired moderate depth below the surface, connected to the vessel and moving therewith. I have in apatent granted to me August 7, 1883, No. 282,620, set forth a device for this purpose. The present invention is an improvement thereon.

.I provide means for better insuring the correct position of the device, so as to keep with certainty the proper depth in the water; and I provide means for ascertaining by the ear not only the fact that the device touches bottom, but also, approximately, what kind of bottom it is, whether mud, sand, gravel, bare rocks, or rocks covered with marine vegetation. This is done as follows: I mount in my device the essential parts of a telephonetransmitter, and connect thereto two conductors contained in a flexible connection, with provisions for transmitting the same in a suitable telephone-receiver, which may be either immediately adjacent to the reel, or may, by suitable connections, be extended to the cabin or any other part of the vessel. I also provide means for automatically buoying the place in the sea where my sounder strikes the bottom.

The following is a description of what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention. i v

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a general view representing the manner of using the device. Fig. 2 is aside elevation,partly in section, showing the sounder ready for use. Fig. 3 is an end view of the same. Fig. 4 represents the reel, which is mounted on the rail of the vessel or at other convenient point, for raising and lowering the sounder. Fig. 5 is on a larger scale. It is an elevation, partly in section, of the reel and of the cord is drawn out.

scale. It is a cross-section showing certain portions. Fig. 7 is a cross-section through the rail of the vessel, with an elevation of the reel and adjacent parts, showingthe means for throwing overboard the buoy and attached weight when the bottom is struck and more Fig. 8 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 9 is-an elevation of the buoy detached. Itis on a larger scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre-- sponding parts in all the figures where they occur. 1

A is the hull of a vessel, and B a flexible connection leading therefromto a devicewhich' I will indicate this i I will term a sounder.

one of its bearings. Fig. 6 is on a still larger sounder complete by the single letter D, designating certain parts thereof, when necessary, by additional marks, as D D. It is equipped with thin plane horizontal wings D, adapted to take hold on the water and compel the sounder to traverse at the proper depth, notwithstanding the fact that the cord or connection B acts at an inclination which draws the sounder strongly upward. The cord B is compound. Certain portions will be designated, when necessary, by additional marks,

as B B E is a reel or Windlass on which a portion of the connecting-cord B is wound. Certain portions of the reel will be designated, when necessary, by additional marks, as EE". By

turning this Windlass in one direction or the other the depth at which the device D will traverse may be varied at will.

A hollow vessel, D composed of thin metal filled with air, forms a part of thesonnder. It may be termed the barrel of thesounder. It is pointed, so as to facilitate its being moved through the water. The large portion near the rear end by its buoyancy supports that ward trend of the device. VVhen the motion of the vessel is rapid, the edect of this portion may be inappreciable. The sounder will remain at the proper level by virtue of other causes; but when the vessel is slowed for any reason, the sounder, being gently elevated at the rear end by the buoyancy of the portion D maintains its proper depth in the water by virtue of the tendency of the rear end to rise,

end of the device, so as to promote the down- 'tinuously from one end to the other.

thus making the wings D more certainly effieient.

I provide for attaching the cord B to the sounder at variable points, thus allowing for adjustment of the position. Changes in the relative weights of different portions of the device, or changes in the friction on different portions of the surface, and essential changes in the form or position of the wings due to repeated bruising against the bottom and imperfect repairs of the damage, are liable to induce permanent variations in the action. Different kinds of bottom, difierent currents at the bottom from those at the top, increased or lessened liability of the sounder to become clogged with kelp or other submarine vegetation, may induce temporary variations in the action. In such cases the operator changes the point of attachment from time to time until he finds the best point for all conditions or the best pointfor the special conditions-i11- volved. The attachment is effected by a short piece of cord, B attached to the main cord B by a seizing, B Care is taken to so attach it that the cord B below the seizing shall be relieved from strain.

The connecting-cord B contains two wires, B B", each carefully insulated, extending con- The reel E is equipped at one end with an insulated central conductor, E, and with an insulated annular concentric conductor, E The cen tral conductor, E, is in electrical communication with one of the wires, B. The annular conductor E is in electrical communication with the other wire, B. One end ofan insulated wire,G, mounted on the fixed framework, is kept in contact with the central conductor, E. Another wire, G", mounted also on the fixed frame-work, is kept in contact with the annular conductor E. These wires G G communicate with the telephone-receiver H, which may be of any ordinary or suitable style. I prefer receivers made duplex and adapted to fit with tolerable tightness over each ear. This is of advantage, for the reason, among others, that it excludes a large proportion of other sounds, which in heavy weather interfere with the proper delicacy of hearing.

The lower ends of the wires B B are led through a close-fitting gutta-percha plug, d, into the interior of the barrel D", where they connect in any ordinary or suitable manner to a wire, J, which is coiled around a permanent magnet, K.

In the required close proximity to the end of the magnet K, I mount a diaphragm, L. This is supported by a ring, L, and arms U, which are riveted or otherwise secured to the interior of D The arrangement constitutes a telephonetransmitter, and may have any ordinary or suitable facility for delicate adjustment.

I have in my experiments used a sounder about fifteen inches long, with a barrel, D three or four inches in diameter at thelargest part, and with wingsl) presenting each an area of aboutaquarter of a 'square foot. The considerable tension on the cord B when the vessel moves rapidly may be borne by the wires B B or there may be a third wire or any other number of wires or other strong flexible parts to resist the strain. The wingsD form a heart-shaped plane, as shown, and are arranged to move with their narrow ends foremost. The plane is oblique to the axis of the barrel D D is a sheet of metal or sufficlently strong material arranged in a vertical plane traversing the center of the barrel. The lower edge is loaded with lead D*.

To the upper forward portion of the plane D isrivetecl or otherwise attached a piece, 0, having a series of perforations, c, to either of which the attaching-line may be connected, according as circumstances shall indicate.

The attachment of the sounder to the cord B is effected by a seizing, F,which connects B strongly to the piece 0 at one of the holes 0. There should'be some slack in the cord B from the attachment of the seizing to the plug (Z.

N is a hook riveted in the correct position on or near the lowest point, and having its point presented forward, adapted to catch and bring up samples of the vegetation at the bottom. This may also be useful in dragging for ropes or the like, which may be supposed to belying on the bottom.

F, Figs. 7 and 8, is a frame extending over the side of the vessel and carrying a pulley, I, over which the cord B extends from the reel E.

F is a shelf on which I rest a buoy, M, to the upper end of which is permanently attached a slender cord, N, which is wound in a compact layer around the cylindrical body of the buoy M. The other end of the cord N is attached to a heavy weight, 0, of annular form mounted on the conical upper end ofthe buoy M.

B is a yoke loosely embracing the buoy M and its attached cord and weight. The cord B extends through a passage provided in one side of this yoke B, controlled by a pinchingscrew, T.

In adjusting the parts the pinching-screw is loosened and the yoke B rests idly on the shelf F,with the cord B playing freely through it. When the device is in operation, and the reel E has been adjusted in the correct position to allow the sounder to traverse at the proper depth, the pinching-screw T is tightened so as to unite the yoke B with the cord B. The sounder D,with its attached cord and weight, is then placed in an upright position, resting on the shelf F and loosely inclosed by the yoke B. The spring 1?, adjustable by the screw S, rests against one of the pins m in the end of the reel, and prevents the reel from rotating with the force received through the cord B so long as the sounder runs unobstructedly through the water; but when shallow water is IIO reached, or, supposing the device to be used to determine the location of a wreck, when the wreck is struck the sounder will be entirely or partially arrested and the pull of the cord B will be so much increased that the force of the spring P will be overcome and the reel E will turn and allow more of the cord B to be drawn out. This movement will dislodge the buoy M and its attachments from its previous firm support on the shelf F and allow them to drop into the water. So soon as these parts are thus liberated the weight 0 will descend rapidly to the bottom, causing the buoy M to rotate and deliver its cord N. The cord will be of sufficient length to allow the weight 0 to rest on the bottom,and to insure that the buoy will be allowed to float on the surface of the water. Now, the vessel A may tack or other means may be taken'to get back to the place, and on picking up the buoy M and delicately hauling in the slender cord N the location of the weight on the bottom will be determined, and that will give very nearly the location of the wreck, ledge, shoal, or other object against which the sounder has struck.

Operation: The sounder being lowered into the water while the vessel is moving at any moderate speed will commence to be drawn along by the tension of the cord B, and will, by the buoyancy of its barrel D hold its rear end elevated while its forward end is allowed to descend. The action of the wings D on water causes it to continue its descent as the wire B is paid out by allowing it to unwind from the reel E. When a sufficient length is out,the attendant arrests the further revolutian of the reel by dropping the pawl P, which engages in one of the notches 6. Then the sounder will move forward with the Vessel, hauling on the wire B at an inclination more or less perpendicular, according to the success with which the attachment to the sounder has been adjusted, and maintaining an approximately uniform depth below the surface of the water. So long as the water is of ample depth nothing will happen. The attendant having the receivers H in position will hear nothing but the rushing sound caused by the movement of the sounder B through the water; but whenever the bottom is touched a distinct indication of the fact, and also of the character of the bottom, is communieated to the attendant. He will hear by the aid of the telephone-connections the striking or scraping along the bottom, the sound being similar to but less than that he would hear if his car were in the interior of the barrel D For general purposes the telephone-transmitter may be made considerably smaller than are ordinarily used for communicating the voice.

altogether and inclose the telephone-receiver in a case of only sufficient dimensions to contain it. I can use some of the well-known forms of telephone in which the permanent magnet K is not required, the telephone being worked by a battery carried on the vessel. I can realize the benefits due to the buoyant barrel and the variable connection without employing any telephone-connection at all. The buoy M, with its attachments, may be thrown overboard by an attendant, instead of I being operated mechanically.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In a shallow-water indicating device, the sounder D, having a tapering barrel, D hollow and buoyant at the rear, in combination with wings D, arranged obliquely thereto and adapted to be drawn at a depth below the surface of the water by a connection, B, to "a moving vessel, A, as herein specified.

2.'The flexible connection B, sounding device D, having the elongated barrel D, obliquely-arranged wings D, and loaded upright plane D in combination with each other and with provisions 0 for varying the point of attachment of B to D, all substantially as herein specified.

3. In combination with a sounder having wings adapted to engage the water and be car- IOC ried at a uniform depth therein, the hook D,

arranged to serve therewith, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

4. In a shallow-water indicator, the combination of a telephone-transmitter and suitable telephonic-connection devices with a sounding device and its conneetingcord, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

5. A buoy, Mgcord N, and weight 0, in cornbination with each other and with a sounding device D, cord B, and yoke R, arranged for joint operation, substantially as herein specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at New York city, New York, this 19th day of June, 1884, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FERDINAND E. FOBSTER.

Witnesses:

THOMAS D. SrETsoN, DANIEL R. GARDEN. 

